Improvement in horse hay-rakes



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Letters Patent No. 103,815, ldated May 3l, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE HAY-RAKES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To whom it may concern Be it known that I, ELI ZIMERMAN, of Pamelia Four Corners, in the county of J eiilerson and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Horse-Rakes; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact .description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in whichf Figure lis a top view of a machine made. in accordance with my invention Figure 24is aver-tical section of the same, representing the rake-teeth lowered Figure 3 is a like section, representing the raketeeth raised.

Figure 4 is a view, on an enlarged scale, of one of the rake-teeth, and' a portion of the reed by which the same is elevated .and lowered, representing also the mode of uniting the tooth with its eye.

.Figure 5 is ai view of the drivers seat.

My invention consists of the combination with the teeth of a horse-rake and the reed by which. said teeth are actuated, of a system of levers, arranged substantially as hereinafter described, to effect the movements of the reed, and the consequent elevation and lowering ofthe teeth.

The rake-teeth A are hinged, independently of one another, upon a suitable head or shaft, c.

Each tooth is united with an eye, B, which is formed with a sleeve, so as to fit upon the head a.

In order to unite the tooth and eye I form in that portion of the latter which projects from the sleeve an opening or socket, and two grooves or depressions on ,its top and bottom faces.A

The end of the tooth is passed through the socket or opening, and is then bent, so a's to enter and fit in both the top and bottom grooves b, as shownin g. 4. This is all that is needed to properly hold the tooth, and I find that it forms a rm, secure, and cheap .fastening, and one which will admit of the ready removal of the tooth whenever desired.

The teeth pass through a reed, C, a portion of which is shwn ou an enlarged scale in fig. 4, each tooth passing between wires extending between the top and bottom rails of the reed in the usual way.

In order to lessen the friction'on both the reed and teeth, I arrange, in the reed and under the teeth, small friction-rollers, c, over which the teeth run when y the reed is moved back and forth.

. 'lhe reed is suspended from swinging arms, D, pivoted or hinged at one end to the reed, and at the other to standards,`E, erected upon the frame. of the machine.

Near the lower ends of the arms are pivoted connecting-rods, d, whose forward ends are pivoted to vibratory arms, e, formedA on the horizontal rod f, which is mounted in suitable bearings on the frame of the macl1iue,-and has connected with it a lever-handle,l

by means of which the rods, arms', and reed are ac? 'tuated The devices described constitute, in effect, a system of levers by which the reed is swung back and forth -in a path having for its axis the. pivot'which unites the arms D with their supporting standards, and the joints formed by the union of the different members of this system with one another are so arranged as to admit of the reed being readily operated to discharge the hay, while, at the same time, the teeth are held very securely in either of the positions represented in the drawing.

In iig. 1 the lever-handle F is' thrown forward,

'drawing `with it the connecting-rods d, and, conse quently, the swinging arms D, thus causingthe reed to be drawn near to the rake-head, and tohold the teeth in position to gather the hay. n

XVhile the teeth are thus, as a body, held to their work, they are, nevertheless, owing to being hinged independently of each other to the head, capable of a limited up and down play in the reed, which allows them to -yield to any slight obstruction uuevcness of the ground. N

rIhe arrangement of the levers is such thad the reed is held in its forward position without the need vf other locking or holding devices, while the teeth are gathering the hay. As soon as sucient hay has been gathered the lever is drawn back to the position shown in fig. 3, thus forcing back the arms D, by means -of the cclniecting-rods d, and causing a backward and upward movement of the reed in the path above indicated, and thereed is thereby caused to lift'the teeth thc upper ends of the lever-arms e, so as to give greater stiffness to the parts, and to serve also as a treadle, upon which the foot of the driver may be pressed, so as to bring the reed forward, and to hold it in such position, beyond the possibility of disturbance.

The standards E have a series of holes or sockets formed in their upper ends for the reception. of the bolts 01- pivots upon which the arms D are hung.

By changing the bolts from one to the other of these holes, the arms D may be lifted or lowered, and the teeth can, consequently, be set at any desired distance from the ground, thereby enabling them to be used with any sized wheels, and also adapting the machine to be used on stubble as well as on sward ground.

lhe driver-s seat H, as shown in fig. 5, is supported npon the end of a bar, g, whicn plays np and down in two sockets, h, formed in ears projecting from vthe metalio frame t', the'base of which is fixed to the axle I, or other suitable partof the machine. A spiral or other spring surrounding the bar g, and interposed between the freine i and the seat, gives thenecessary springiness to' the letter.

Having nowdescrihed my invention, and the inanner in which the same is or may becarried into effect,

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with the rake-teeth and the reed of the system of levers, arranged substantially as herein described, to eiect the movements of the reed, and consequent elevation or lowering of the teeth.

2. In :t rake having the reed and teeth ombined with n. system of operating levers, arranged as described, the combination of the swinging arms which hold the reed, with their supporting-stnndnrds and se-- Witnesses:

A. E. YORK, D. I. SMITH. 

